Pats' Belichick just finds ways to win during Hall of Fame career

Saturday

Dec 7, 2013 at 8:25 PM

Bill Belichick’s Patriots have all kinds of holes in their roster. Here’s a look at why they should be losing by now, why are 10 1/2-point favorites against the Browns, and what Belichick says about Cleveland.

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

How does Belichick do it?

His teams are good no matter what. His worst years are some teams’ best years.

The last time William Stephen Belichick had a losing season, Cleveland Browns Stadium was wall-papered with banners ridiculing his return to head coaching.

Belichick’s New England Patriots lost 19-11 to the Browns five days after George Walker Bush dueled Albert Arnold Gore Jr. on an election Tuesday.

Since that 2000 season, Belichick’s record heading into a home game against the Browns is 172-56.

The team he will send against 4-8 Cleveland is full of holes — and wins. Only Denver, which lost at New England two weeks ago, and Seattle have better 2013 records than the Patriots’ 9-3.

Rob Chudzinski, who was a 22-year-old Browns fan when Belichick got his head coaching break in Cleveland in 1991, now must match wits with the master.

“It’s amazing,” Chudzinski said. “Everyone aspires to build the type of winning culture that New England has, and the key is how you get there.

“Every place has its unique challenges, its unique situations, and so they have to be different in style than what New England has created.

“But everybody aspires to build that type of winning culture. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

How does Belichick do it? Shouldn’t he be losing this year?

His best receiver, Rob Gronkowski, has missed half the season.

His most valuable defensive players, Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo, went on injured reserve in October.

A former undrafted free agent (Danny Amendola), a former Round 7 draft pick (Julian Edelman) and an undrafted rookie (Kenbrell Thompkins) were the wideouts with whom he beat Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

Belichick’s center (Ryan Wendell) and his right guard (Dan Connolly) are former undrafted guys. His right tackle (Marcus Cannon) was a Round 5 pick in 2011 who will be making his fifth NFL start.

Starting defensive end Rob Ninkovich has been cut by the Saints and Dolphins. Starting safety Steve Gregory was mostly a backup in six seasons with San Diego. Starting cornerback Alfonzo Denard was picked in Round 7 last year, later than three players drafted by Cleveland who are not on current NFL rosters.

How?

Belichick cobbles such loose material with keystones to make mighty walls.

He hires coaches who remind himself of himself when he was young, such as 30-something coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia.

That’s not all, obviously.

There’s Tom Brady.

The former Michigan quarterback has 145 of Belichick’s regular-season wins.

Meanwhile, part of Belichick feels Chudzinski’s pain in trying to build the Browns as a first-year head coach. This week’s game transported Belichick back to his first year in Cleveland, when he was preparing for a season opener against Jimmy Johnson’s Dallas Cowboys.

“Jimmy told me years later that they didn’t even have a scouting report for us because they were worried about Washington the next week,” Belichick said. “They didn’t feel like they could dedicate too much time to us, which was about right.”

The Cowboys won 26-14. Coincidentally, Belichick’s first win as Browns head coach came a week later at New England.

Belichick has been through a lot since then, enough to make him one of the easiest “yes” votes in the history of Pro Football Hall of Fame balloting.

He’s going on 62. The watch is on to see when he will call it a day and await his trip to Canton.

There were signs Belichick was losing his grip in 2009. The Patriots won the AFC East with just a 10-6 record.

Since then, Belichick’s teams have gone 14-2, 13-3 and 12-4. They will be 10-3 if they beat the Browns.

Pity those glory-starved Boston fans. They have done without a Super Bowl since the 2004 season. Lately, they have had to make do with AFC title seasons — Super Bowl losses — in 2007 and 2011.

The 2013 roster might be his weakest since 2000. Yet, it has one very important strength — him.

No one counts out additional days in the sun.

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